Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 23, 2013 9:29 pm Warning: Prone to ramble... Hi all, I moved into our new house almost a year ago (see my old thread here http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000) and for most of this time, DW and I have been focusing on taming the 3 acres into some horse paddocks and getting some grass going. DW has also taken on the project of clearing up the back area of the little tea tree shrubs and baby gum trees so we have a section which is neat and tidy. I used that time to cut up a bunch of trees that had to be knocked down during the build, or had come down in storms, create a kids play area, and do a general tidy up (found some awesome tools and other things left by the previous owners). Oh, and a back step made of two tyres and a bit of plywood (the tyres mean the step has 'suspension' as it bounces when you step on it) During that time, the area around our house has been an uneven slope of dust, rock, bits of concrete and unused bricks half buried. While it did mean that I could wrap myself in tinfoil and stick a fishbowl on my head and pretend that I was on Mars, it has not been very aesthetically pleasing. To give an idea, we have a gravel driveway that does a circle around our house and also encompasses the septic tanks. Apart from the house, the septic tank, a clothesline, and one tiny tree, it is all dirt. So onto the task of taming this. It has three major projects. Project 1: retain off the fill slope made by building the house and get some form of garden on the western side of the house. Project 2: cut and retain the eastern side of make a semi-raised garden beds. Project 3: Create a dry creekbed across the front of the house which will feed into a drainage trench in front of the garage and direct water along the western retained garden to my drainage pit Small problem. We are broke. So no landscape architects, no heavy machinery, preferably nothing bought (except for topsoil, plants, and gravel). What I did have is: 1. Tools: Shovels, pickaxe, sledgehammer, chainsaw, and other tools. 2. Transport: 2 wheelbarrows, a garden cart and some ropes 3: Protection: Gloves, hat and a really good physiotherapist 4: Resources: Dirt, rocks, sandstone shelf just under the ground, and tree trunks. As I mentioned, some trees got knocked over when putting in the big water tank. When I cut them up, I left some nice straight bits of trunk. The previous owners had also used 2m lengths of tree as garden edging, barriers to wombats along the fence line, and then others randomly placed throughout the bush block. Which formed the seed of my idea. Why not use these tree trunks to make a stepped garden around the western side. This would have three levels which meant that I would not have to do major piering to retain it as each sits on a separate level. It would raise the height of the ground on this side of the house so give more a usable area for the future if we put in paving, lawn, etc. It would fit with the bush aspect of the house. It also merges the projects as the cut I need to do on the eastern side will be used to fill the levels on the western. And in terms of construction, it would not cost a thing! So onto post number two and some pictures. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 2Nov 23, 2013 9:43 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The first log down. DS felt that he had to check if it was stable. I later decided that it wasn't and rolled it around a bit. Behind you can see the dirt wasteland I am planning to tame. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Log 2 (don't worry, it won't be log by log photos). I should point out that although they don't look big in the photos, these logs range from 1.6 to 2.4 metres long and most are as wide as me. They are heavy buggers. Some of them I could roll from where they were on the property, some I crabbed along with ropes. Most now go in the garden cart (and tip it over) which are why the sides are bent to hell. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Starting on level two. How far I progress with each level changes depending on the logs I can retrieve at the time, their diameter and shape (straight or curved), which parts I had dug out (around the septic, I have had to dig out the levels, etc. The curved log down the bottom is sitting on the top of my drainage pit and will be used elsewhere on one of the end curves. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 3Nov 23, 2013 9:49 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This shows (with difficulty as all the dirt is the same colour) the start of the cut in around the septic tanks to the front of the garage. The logs will stop 2m away from the garage so I still have a slope to get mower, garden carts, etc onto the top area and the drainage trench will go under this slope and pop out at the lower end of the log walls. Also, again this shows my wasteland. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ More of the rear section, cleaned up a bit. I have a tree here with a small rock garden. This will stay and there will be grass between this and the log walls. I am also going to put gravel and a groundcover mint at the lowest level to provide some colour to what will be my runoff path to the drainage pit. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Level 3 begins. The front half is the easy half as I only have to dig out the levels, not fill them in. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 4Nov 23, 2013 9:54 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ To help out, I brought in some heavy machinery (found it at the tip, so saved me 30 bucks for one of his Christmas presents...I did clean it before giving it to him) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I also have this rusty bloke telling me what to do seeing as I am a city boy. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 5Nov 23, 2013 10:04 pm http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii575/tallong/20131109_152046_zps9735a1f6.jpg Long shot of the project which gives a scale of the size of the area. The bottom row finishes about here as the drive way slopes up. Each of the log walls will stretch until they hit the natural slope. http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii575/tallong/20131109_152131_zpsacd1a0a1.jpg Looking down at the levels. It was at this point that needed to start filling in the northern end as I go along. So I have started to cut out the eastern side of the house in preparation for my retaining wall there. It is a slow process as I keep hitting sandstone, so it is pick axe, shovel, pick axe, shovel. It is getting easier now that I have done the cut all the way in 800mm and can now just extend it on either side. http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii575/tallong/20131118_200308_zps319a79a8.jpg Starting to put the fill in. http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii575/tallong/20131118_200238_zps9803c753.jpg From a different angle. I am now up to 18 wheelbarrow loads dug out and brought around the house. I picked up an earth spreader float thingey (technical term I know) from the salvage shed at the tip for 10 bucks (good bargains there!). Best money I spent as it spreads it nice and even and then use it to compact it as well. So that is what I have gotten up to. I have until spring next year to have it done as that is when we will be planting it. I am looking at the top area being seeded with grass, then gardens in each of the levels down (edible garden, with herbs and wild strawberries, etc). The people who owned the block before us (they put up the shed) left everything behind, which includes a lot of irrigation stuff so all I will need to buy is soil and plants. I am also digging out the rocks as I go and saving them for the dry creekbed. Hope you all think it looks alright. It is hard work but I am enjoying it and will think the end product will look pretty decent. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 6Nov 23, 2013 10:30 pm I love it! Looks like hard work you should be really proud, Recently moved to a 60's home in need of some improvement! http://s797.photobucket.com/user/leenii ... ch%20House Old house: http://s797.photobucket.com/albums/yy25 ... loo/House/ Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 9Nov 24, 2013 2:32 pm Thanks to all the comments so far. About to go have a well-deserved milkshake. I am up to 25 wheel barrow loads cut out and transferred and barely made a dint. A dingo or bobcat would be quicker, but not in the budget. I keep reminding myself that I am simultaneously working on two projects so the effort is worth it. For the part I am cutting out, I am going to retain that with some left over colourbond sheeting from the roof and frame it in spare treated pine posts but no pics of that yet as no where near ready to start retaining. I also hooked up some ropes to a big log (over 4m) that is just too big for me to pull, drag, roll, lift onto garden cart so tonight I will hopefully hook up a friend's 4wd and pull it out of the paddock to where I want it. Also got another 7 logs out of the paddock and have dumped them close by to use as needed. I did a count and so far there are 38 logs in use. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 12Nov 27, 2013 7:13 pm 34 barrows of dirt I have moved, 34 barrows of dirt, I use my pick and shovel it up, a million more barrows of dirt to be moved... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bit more progress, not that it is very noticeable. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It is hard to see as it is all the same colour, but this is the part around the other side I have dug out so far. When I look at it, I don't see how I have removed 34 wheelbarrow loads, but I am counting... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And I still have all that way to go until the end of the house in this direction... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And all the way to that corner too... Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 13Dec 20, 2013 1:21 pm Progress is slow, but there is progress. I needed more logs so I have taken them from the kids' playground which also meant moving the plants and garden edging so that took a few hours. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Now there are three proper levels! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Looking from the top, you can see how much I still need to fill in. This is the really slow bit. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ With this photo I was trying to show the levelled off bit at the front in contrast to the current concave slope but when everything is brown, it is hard to get the contrast. When all filled in, you will not be able to see the backs of these logs as that will be the top level. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Looking from low down at the hook this will all be levelled to a gentle slope to the house. Some of these logs were too much for my garden cart and I had to roll and push/pull them by hand. Bit harder than I first hoped but there in the end. Then the topsoil grass, and maybe deck or step from the back door (currently it is two tyres with a bit of plywood on top - also known as the bouncy step) Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 15Dec 24, 2013 10:59 pm I moved all of them except the 4 metre one by hand. That one I used a 4wd. For the others I either carried, rolled, crab-walked them with ropes, lifted them onto my little garden cart and dragged, or put on their ends and dragged them to where I needed to go. Very tiring but you feel like Hercules when it is done. Hercules with a slipped disc... Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden 16Dec 28, 2013 1:40 pm I moved some rocks when doing the early parts of our landscaping which required some creative thinking for the bigger ones that I couldn't pick up easily and I sort of rolled them somehow. Pales in comparison to your efforts though. My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden: Awesome present! 17Jan 03, 2014 8:05 pm Got home today to large piles of dirt. My wife had a present for me. The landlord next door had been doing maintenance on the property in between tenants and they had worked out one case of beer for an hour's bobcat work. So now...all the digging out is done! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It is a bit galling that he did in an hour one half, and the other half took me more than a month with a pick, but who cares. I hate rock shelves, Bobcats really aren't fazed by them. So now it is barrow it around to the other side and we are cracking along! It was also helpful as we have some big dog cages kennels coming soon (3x2x2m jobbies) that are going in the dug out section so now I can put them straight in! Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden: Awesome present! 18Jan 03, 2014 8:22 pm Awesome present! Recently moved to a 60's home in need of some improvement! http://s797.photobucket.com/user/leenii ... ch%20House Old house: http://s797.photobucket.com/albums/yy25 ... loo/House/ Re: My mammoth tree trunk stepped garden: Awesome present! 20Mar 01, 2014 6:16 pm So I have been quiet for a while, plodding along. I got all the fill moved around and levelled (mild slope for drainage) out new area. Got 5 tonne of soil and have started spreading it out as a top layer ready for some lawn seed. Hope to get it done by tomorrow to make use of the good rain and moist conditions. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Hello. I just bought a few acres in Habana, Mackay, and my horses seem to love hanging around under this tree. I would like to name the paddock after this tree. Can… 0 9529 Fellow Perth dweller. Looks like pruns nigra. It's a dark leaf flowering plum. Doesn't get massive and is easily trimmed deciduous tree. Very popular in small gardens in Perth 7 2764 |